Summary

This position is located under the Office of the Associate Director at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, where the incumbent serves as the Supervisory Safety and Occupational Health Manager (Safety Manager), providing services for a Level 3 Complexity encompassing 125-acre campus and CBOC/ Outreach Clinics for Selma, Demopolis, Fayette, Hamilton, and University of Alabama.

Duties

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Duties include but not limited to:

• Direct and manage the facility-wide Safety and Occupational Health Program in accordance with OSHA, VA, VHA, Joint Commission, NFPA, EPA, and other applicable federal, state, and local regulatory requirements.
• Develop, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve safety policies, procedures, and operational guidance to minimize workplace hazards and promote a culture of safety.
• Conduct comprehensive safety inspections, environmental rounds, hazard surveillance, and risk assessments throughout clinical and non-clinical areas.
• Identify unsafe conditions and work practices; recommend corrective actions; monitor abatement activities to ensure timely resolution of identified deficiencies.
• Investigate employee injuries, occupational illnesses, accidents, fires, hazardous incidents, and near-miss events to determine root causes and recommend preventive measures.
• Analyze injury, illness, workers' compensation, and accident trend data to identify systemic issues and develop strategies to reduce organizational risk.
• Serve as the technical authority and principal advisor to executive leadership on occupational safety, fire prevention, environmental safety, and regulatory compliance.
• Develop facility safety goals, strategic initiatives, performance measures, and program metrics; prepare reports for executive leadership, VISN leadership, and regulatory agencies.
• Plan, coordinate, and conduct employee safety education, orientation, drills, and mandatory training programs related to workplace safety, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials, fire safety, and accident prevention.
• Oversee compliance with OSHA standards, Life Safety Code requirements, Environment of Care standards, hazardous materials management, lockout/tagout procedures, confined space requirements, respiratory protection, and other occupational safety programs.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary safety activities with Engineering, Facilities Management, Industrial Hygiene, Infection Prevention, Emergency Management, Police, Environmental Management Service, and clinical program leaders.
• Participate in construction safety reviews, renovation projects, and environmental assessments to ensure compliance with applicable safety standards throughout project planning and execution.
• Conduct workplace ergonomic evaluations and recommend engineering or administrative controls to reduce musculoskeletal injuries and improve employee safety.
• Manage the facility's fire prevention and life safety programs by coordinating fire drills, evacuation planning, fire response procedures, and regulatory inspections.
• Review architectural drawings, renovation plans, and equipment purchases to ensure compliance with applicable life safety, fire protection, and occupational safety requirements.
• Develop corrective action plans for accreditation findings, OSHA inspections, environmental surveys, and internal program reviews.
• Maintain accurate documentation, databases, regulatory records, inspection reports, and required program files in accordance with VA policies and federal regulations.
• Monitor organizational compliance through audits, performance indicators, and continuous quality improvement initiatives.
• Provide expert consultation to managers and supervisors regarding hazard mitigation, regulatory interpretation, accident prevention, and employee safety responsibilities.
• Supervise Safety Office personnel by planning work, assigning priorities, evaluating performance, identifying training needs, and fostering employee development.
• Represent the organization during regulatory inspections, accreditation surveys, emergency response activities, and interdisciplinary committees related to safety and occupational health.
• Perform other related duties as assigned in support of the medical center's mission and organizational objectives.

Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday. Work schedule may change based on agency need.

Telework: Not eligible for Telework.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Safety & Occupational Health Manager/PD114630

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/27/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Individual Occupational Requirements:

Experience: Experience in or related to safety and occupational health that provided the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position. Examples of qualifying specialized experience include: Managing safety or occupational health program elements; Developing and recommending safety and occupational health policy to higher levels of management; Applying safety and occupational health laws, regulations, principles, theories, practices, and procedures to advise on or resolve technical matters dealing with occupational safety and health requirements; Developing safety and occupational health standards, regulations, practices, and procedures to eliminate or control potential hazards; Developing or implementing programs to reduce the frequency, severity, and cost of accidents and occupational illnesses; Analyzing or evaluating new and existing jobs, processes, products, or other systems to determine the existence, severity, probability, and outcome of hazards; Designing or modifying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems to control or eliminate hazards; Inspecting or surveying workplaces, processes, products, or other systems for compliance with established safety and occupational health policies or standards and to identify potential new hazards; Training of workers, supervisors, managers, or other safety and occupational health personnel in safety or occupational health subjects; Work in occupational fields such as industrial hygienist, safety engineer, fire prevention engineer, health physicist, and occupational health nurse.

OR

Education: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study safety or occupational health fields (safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene), or degree in other related fields that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours of study from among the following (or closely related) disciplines: safety, occupational health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, toxicology, public health, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, engineering, and industrial psychology.

OR

Certificate: Certification as a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), or Certified Health Physicist (CHP), or similar certification that included successful completion of a written examination meets the requirements for GS-5. Applicants may also qualify for higher grade levels based on their education and/or experience.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Administering an occupational safety and health program; conducting safety inspections, hazard analyses, and accident investigations; interpreting and applying OSHA and other regulatory requirements; identifying workplace hazards and recommending corrective actions; providing technical guidance to management; developing safety training; analyzing safety data; and ensuring compliance with applicable safety, environmental, and accreditation standards. Supervisory or team lead experience is preferred.

Preferred Experience: Applying OSHA,NFPA, and environmental safety standards in a healthcare or similar setting. Using standard software to document inspections, track hazards, and prepare reports.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional